News Round Up: Heroic Firelands Hotfixes and More

There were a lot of changes to Firelands tonight--in particular, heroic Baleroc and Majordomo have significantly less HP along with changed fight dynamics.

Heroic 25-man Baleroc is now 196 million down from 217 million while heroic 25-man Majordomo is now 432 million health. This seems like it's less of a nerf like we first reported and more of a "change." For example, in addition to lowering health, on Baleroc they also reduced the rate at which stacks are gained from Torment. This makes the fight much harder to heal, requiring either two tanks or more healers from a usually one tank and four healer fight. This changes the fight's dynamic completely.

Heroic Ragnaros Kill Video

Making good on their promise to post their Ragnaros kill video after another guild downed the fight, Paragon posted it tonight. Can you count how many healers they used? Hint: not many.

Diablo 3 Beta Slated For By September 30th

A MvP poster said that the beta is supposed to go live by September 30th on the forums today... While this isn't a Blizzard employee, it is someone who knows more than a regular poster would and reminds us that beta is indeed coming. There have been other signs as well, like box art uploaded to Battle.net and the Diablo 3 press tour coming this August, so it's kind of a no brainer that it would be out before BlizzCon regardless.

Supposedly, the Beta will go live by September 30th, as long as there are no major delays. I'm going to BlizzHQ on Wednesday to playtest the Beta, as part of a press event as well... I think we're almost there.

If all goes well within the Beta, it's very possible to have a 2011 release.

July 26th Hotfixes

They're in from Blizzard now and they are some major ones.

July 26

General

Characters should no longer receive errors or potential disconnects when using Levitate, Slow Fall, or the Parachute Cloak while falling.

All combat and vanity pets should now respawn normally after players use any flight path.

Classes

Mages

Combustion should no longer ignore damage modifiers on a target. As an example, Smoldering Elemental packs in the Firelands should no longer take full damage from Impact’s spread of Combustion, despite these creatures having damage reduction modifiers.

Deep Wounds should no longer ignore damage modifiers on a target. As an example, Smoldering Elementals in the Firelands should no longer take full damage from Deep Wounds, despite these creatures having damage reduction modifiers.

Dungeons & Raids

Players who die and release before a boss is killed should now receive Valor and Justice points. However, players that release at the moment the boss dies and are currently at the loading screen will become locked to the dungeon, but will not receive any currency for the kill. We’re working to address this in a future update.

Firelands

Alysrazor

Alysrazor cannot dodge or parry attacks from players.

Alysrazor’s melee evasion angle has been adjusted so that players have a larger area to use abilities which require that they be behind their target.

Blazing Talon Clawshapers will now properly aggro a new target when threat is dropped.

On Heroic difficulty, Brushfires will despawn once Firestorm is cast, and since the Initiates shield themselves during firestorm, none are cast again until it ends.

Molten Feather is removed once Alysrazor ignites at 50 energy, as opposed to when she burns out.

Baleroc

On 25-player Heroic difficulty, Torment now grants a stack of Vital Spark per 5 applications, up from 3. To compensate, Baleroc’s health has been reduced on 25-player Heroic difficulty.

Beth’tilac

Attacking the Fire Hawk flock along the way to Beth'tilac will not cause the Hell Hound pack to aggro as well.

Majordomo Fandral Staghelm

Fandral’s health has been reduced on 25-player Heroic difficulty.

Damage suffered from a shaman's Spirit Link totem will no longer break player Concentration.

Player pets should now benefit from their master's Concentration.

Fandral now gains energy when his Flame Scythe hits fewer than 7 targets. The amount gained increases as fewer targets are hit.

The Occulus

Wiping to Mage-Lord Urom in any phase of the encounter no longer causes players to be unable to use their Dragon Essences to mount drakes.

Items

The Moonwell Chalice is now on a shared cooldown with other on-use trinkets.

The Moonwell Phial is now on a shared cooldown with other on-use trinkets.

Professions

Crafted Bloodthirsty bind-on-equip relics and cloaks are no longer unique, allowing players to craft and hold more than one of the same item type in their inventories.

PvP

Battlegrounds

Eye of the Storm has been temporarily removed from the Rated Battlegrounds options.

Quests & Creatures

Eastern Plaguelands

Beezil Linkspanner's gossip option should now always be available if players have completed the quest Onward to Light's Hope Chapel, allowing players who have not already done so the ability to complete the achievement Full Caravan.

Hyjal Regrowth & Molten Front

Players should now be able to accept the quest Unlocking the Secrets Within from Rabine Saturna after turning in A Smoke-Stained Locket.

Players who are Hated or Hostile with the Steamwheedle Cartel faction can still turn in the quest Well Armed to Ricket.

The creature abilities Smoldering Roots and Blazing Stomp no longer affect pets (the unexpected launch of player pets no longer occurs).

10-mans vs. 25-mans

The top guild in the world, Paragon, posted a brilliant analysis of 10 and 25-mans, having killed heroic Ragnaros world first in both modes. It is definitely worth reading, even if it fuels the debate between 10 and 25-man guilds, rankings, and so on.

Here's the ultimate conclusion they reached:

DREAM Paragon

It's immediately obvious that there's a much greater degree of clarity and control in the 10-mans. Thinking logically, this should help quite a lot with the learning curve and avoiding mistakes, but that's not really something we could say our little skirmish 'proved' in practice. We already knew what the encounters were about and what the flame to avoid looked like -- relearning to accommodate differences is very different than learning from scratch.

A theme of more significance that you can clearly see in the three harder bosses for this tier is that the dps requirement is much too lenient in 10-man. This means that you don't really have to cut the amount of healers, which ensures relaxed gameplay for the healers while about half of their 25-man brethren are taking beta blockers just to be able to see clearly. The other half is naturally on the bench, sitting out for the extra dps. Perhaps this is a backlash from what we've been hearing about T11, but it really doesn't work as it is.

Proper tuning has repercussions though, since class balance has a huge impact when you're forced into two-heal and solo heal situations. And that's not even a stretch -- don't be surprised if you see a druid solo healing Ragnaros 10 hc before this tier is over. Might or might not happen, but at least it seemed plausible enough. Try doing that with a shaman.

This leads us to the fact that the gap between an optimal setup and the wrong setup seems to be quite a bit larger in 10-man than in 25s. If the encounters are really hard, you'll need a proper setup. Guilds shooting for a world first should always be expected to come up with one, but those below, the ones without alt raids, will be left hanging. If the encounters are tuned for the 'average' setup, guilds who can afford the optimal one will steamroll through them.

If we were really playing 10-man, we *would* have a close to optimal setup. Even right now, scaled down from 25 to 10, we would have about 14 players and 30-ish fully raid-capable characters. The difficulty and tuning we're concerned about is for that scenario, not for the level where you're simply enjoying the game with the hand you've been dealt.

You should always keep this in mind when reading feedback from top guilds, whether they are playing 25s or 10s. The game is very likely quite different for you and your raiding group.

Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects Excerpt #3

Written by New York Times bestselling author Christie Golden, the new novel Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects is now on store shelves. We're pleased to present a series of three excerpts from the novel for your reading enjoyment.

Read the third excerpt below.

It was not in the manner Alexstrasza would have wished, but it did seem that the sudden presence of the twilight dragonflight galvanized the other flights into unified action. Without another breath wasted in argument among themselves, they lifted into the skies, charging to attack the enemy, to protect this sacred temple from danger.

It was an incongruously beautiful violence. Dozens of powerful forms in hues of ruby and emerald and sapphire wheeled and turned in midair. Their foe was all the shades of day turning into night—purple, violet, indigo—and grace and brutality combined into a bloody battle.

As they clashed, a voice seemed to echo in their very ears.

"How kind of so many of you to gather together in a single place, that I might destroy more of you weak creatures so readily."

Alexstrasza flew directly toward a cluster of three dragons, diving out of the way of their deadly breath, colored as purple as they were. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the blues hover for a moment, casting a spell and then folding his wings and diving straight down. She swerved quickly and avoided the sudden storm of what looked to be icicles. One of the twilights managed to turn herself incorporeal, but the other two were too slow. Seizing the opportunity, Alexstrasza darted upward to clamp her massive jaws into the sinuous throat of one of them. Caught in his corporeal form with insufficient strength to transform, the twilight dragon let out a strangled scream and frantically beat the air with his indigo wings, trying to tear away from her. His black claws raked at her belly. Her scales blunted the damage from the attack, but white-hot pain still rippled across her stomach. She bit deeper, and the pain stopped. She opened her jaws and released the limp body, not sparing it a second glance as it tumbled downward.

"Who are you?" she cried, her own voice amplified and carrying on the cold, clear air. "Show yourself, name yourself, or be known for the coward and braggart that you are!"

"Neither braggart nor coward I," the voice came again. "I am known to my followers as the Twilight Father. They are my children, and I love them."

A chill rippled through the great Life-Binder, though she did not know why. If the name was true, and he was the patriarch of these beings—

"Then come forth and protect your children, Twilight Father, or sit back and behold as we slaughter them one by one!"

Two of them dove at her from opposite directions. So intent was she on locating the source of the voice she almost did not sense them in time. With barely a tail's breadth to spare, she folded her wings in and dropped like a stone, turning over as she did so. Directly above her the two twilight dragons shifted into their shadowy forms an instant before their collision, their two bodies passing harmlessly through one another.

Laughter, harsh and smug, enveloped her. "You are as a foolish little girl, for all that you are the great Life-Binder. It will be delightful to watch you crumble to pieces beneath what is to come."

New Blizzcon Website

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Comments

Comment by pnkflffytutu

So is paragon saying that they purposefully didn't use shaman for their kill because it was a disadvantage?

Comment by Monday

on 2011/07/26 21:34:23

Nice stealth linking in your Paragon quote.

Comment by Orranis

on 2011/07/26 21:59:57

Fandral now gains energy when his Flame Scythe hits fewer than 7 targets. The amount gained increases as fewer targets are hit.

This was to stop 'cheesing' caused by Ardent Defender, so that a Prot Paladin could later into the phase when it gets to dangerous territory eat one all on his own, basically making the boss only tankable by Protadins.

Comment by Blizzo

on 2011/07/26 22:10:21

I'm just putting there out there... I don't think Sixen should be quoted in a Blizzbox... he's not an employee for Blizzard.

Comment by Ashelia

on 2011/07/26 22:13:02

I'm just putting there out there... I don't think Sixen should be quoted in a Blizzbox... he's not an employee for Blizzard.

We don't have a normal Blizz forum quote to show it was posted by someone who has more authority than a regular person, I can clarify (as I did, by saying it's a MvP), but the other option is to give them a forum quote like I did for Paragon.

Comment by pnkflffytutu

on 2011/07/26 22:15:19

Telling you guys the leaked document is real Diablo 3 in quarter four

Comment by Piechow

on 2011/07/26 23:22:39

I'm just putting there out there... I don't think Sixen should be quoted in a Blizzbox... he's not an employee for Blizzard.

I agree with this. Sixen is not an official source for D3 info. The facts he is stating have NO proof what such ever. To even use him as an official sounding source is way wrong. If he had any correct facts he would have been banned from blizzards sites for releasing information covered by the NDA which dose not lift till august 1st. Sixen is just covering the media event this week and should not again be taken as a correct source since he is just randomly throwing information out there!

Comment by Ashelia

on 2011/07/26 23:25:39

I'm just putting there out there... I don't think Sixen should be quoted in a Blizzbox... he's not an employee for Blizzard.

I agree with this. Sixen is not an official source for D3 info. The facts he is stating have NO proof what such ever. To even use him as an official sounding source is way wrong. If he had any correct facts he would have been banned from blizzards sites for releasing information covered by the NDA which dose not lift till august 1st. Sixen is just covering the media event this week and should not again be taken as a correct source since he is just randomly throwing information out there!

He said it starts before BlizzCon comes out--not a specific date. He's not breaking an NDA by sharing what is common knowledge. I mean, Box art is already out. It is probably Aug or Sept anyway, as it wouldn't make sense to have the press event in a week and then no news for months on D3. It's a reminder that D3 is getting close and should be awesome.

There is no harm in posting this at all.

Comment by Jubilee

on 2011/07/26 23:32:04

What people should really be getting riled up about is the word "irregardless"! Just kidding ;) But I agree, it seems kinda weird to read so much speculation in a new post, but who knows, it could all work out in the end and then everyone will be happy!

Comment by soccergenius

on 2011/07/26 23:40:16

My Elemental Shaman brethren needed the buff, their dps was only competitive when they made full use of the Fire Elemental which is a lot harder than most people would think (pop it on Halfus and watch it try to attack the proto-behemoth).

Comment by Gnub

on 2011/07/27 01:17:58

My Elemental Shaman brethren needed the buff, their dps was only competitive when they made full use of the Fire Elemental which is a lot harder than most people would think (pop it on Halfus and watch it try to attack the proto-behemoth).

Oh good god, this. It's a nice buff - but that right there sums up the problems we have. So true.

Comment by Squishalot

on 2011/07/27 02:14:35

Is it bad that I was disappointed for no Zarhym updates? :(

Interesting comments from Paragon though.

Comment by Problimatic

on 2011/07/27 03:56:53

My Elemental Shaman brethren needed the buff, their dps was only competitive when they made full use of the Fire Elemental which is a lot harder than most people would think (pop it on Halfus and watch it try to attack the proto-behemoth).

WTB assist stance fire ele >.<

Comment by Maelynn

on 2011/07/27 04:19:14

All combat and vanity pets should now respawn normally after players use any flight path.

Great. Now please do the same for hearthing, taking portals to Cata areas or dungeons, leaving a vehicle, and generally loading into another zone. My Wind Rider Cub disappears 90% of the time, and my Felguard/Felhunter 50% of the time. Hell, my demons even disappear if they fall behind too much while I'm mounted - nothing as annoying as losing your demon while you're outrunning a pack of mobs and get dismounted by them. (I know there's the insta-summon from the shards, but a) you might've run out of shards and b) it shouldn't happen, period)

Comment by Mantrhax

on 2011/07/27 07:26:53

WarriorsDeep Wounds should no longer ignore damage modifiers on a target. As an example, Smoldering Elementals in the Firelands should no longer take full damage from Deep Wounds, despite these creatures having damage reduction modifiers.

Everytime i read the fixes from blizzard, theres a warrior nerf of some kind.... are u afraid of a warrior?

Comment by Silentassassin

on 2011/07/27 10:32:35

WarriorsDeep Wounds should no longer ignore damage modifiers on a target. As an example, Smoldering Elementals in the Firelands should no longer take full damage from Deep Wounds, despite these creatures having damage reduction modifiers.

Everytime i read the fixes from blizzard, theres a warrior nerf of some kind.... are u afraid of a warrior?

Ya because fixing something that is broken equals a nerf?It didn't work as it should, now it does.

Comment by pokpokeredar

on 2011/07/27 10:36:35

The most annoying loss of pet is the punting season quest. Pick up the turtle, toss...bye-bye felhunter. Re-summon kill fire dude, pick up turtle, punt, re-summon. I just stopped re-summoning and killed it on my own after the second day of that stupid quest.

Comment by Blizzo

on 2011/07/27 11:48:25

I'm just putting there out there... I don't think Sixen should be quoted in a Blizzbox... he's not an employee for Blizzard.

We don't have a normal Blizz forum quote to show it was posted by someone who has more authority than a regular person, I can clarify (as I did, by saying it's a MvP), but the other option is to give them a forum quote like I did for Paragon.

Um.... MVPs don't have anymore authority then a regular poster does... they just have green text for being helpful...

I'm not going to argue though, it's been fixed to a regular quotebox... that was my only real concern about post, other then that, thanks for the updates.

Comment by Dradee

on 2011/07/27 12:05:37

The OcculusWiping to Mage-Lord Urom in any phase of the encounter no longer causes players to be unable to use their Dragon Essences to mount drakes.

Occulus is a rare drake in Tanaris. The Oculus (with only one 'c') is a dungeon.

:)

Comment by Ashelia

on 2011/07/27 12:09:34

The OcculusWiping to Mage-Lord Urom in any phase of the encounter no longer causes players to be unable to use their Dragon Essences to mount drakes.

Occulus is a rare drake in Tanaris. The Oculus (with only one 'c') is a dungeon.